Mayo march into last four of Rackard

Nicky Rackard Cup – Round 5 

Mayo 3-22 

Louth 0-19 

Dalton MacNamee in Dowdallshill, Dundalk 

Mayo’s bid to reach a third successive Nicky Rackard Cup final remains intact after they secured a place in the semi-final with this win over Louth in their final group game in Dowdallshill on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors were able to keep their opponents at arm’s length, thanks in no small part to two goals in the opening quarter which saw them lead by five.

Mayo had grabbed the opening goal straight from the throw-in, when a slick move through the hands saw Eoin Delaney dispatch to the net after taking a handpass on the run from David Kenny.

To their credit, Louth, who still had an outside chance of making that semi-final if they bettered Sligo’s result against Fermanagh, fought back to lead by the seventh minute, thanks to four sweetly struck Darren Geoghan points, including a free. But that was as good as it got from a Louth perspective, as Mayo soon made their dominance count, having largely dominated on the puckout. They won 15 out of 19 on their own puckout off which they scored 2-8 over the 70 minutes, with Eoin Delaney, Ryan Duffy, Daniel Huane and Corey Scahill seeing plenty of possession here.

Following a point from play by Daniel Huane, two placed balls from Cormac Phillips, including a ’65, and an Eoin Delaney effort from play left the Connacht side ahead by three after 12 minutes, 1-4 to 0-4.

The Wee County remained in contention when the lively Mark Gahan fired over their fifth score from play after decent work from Seaghan Conneely in the build-up. However, Mayo struck for a crucial knockout blow when another incisive move saw the marauding Corey Scahill’s strike kept out by Louth goalkeeper Conor Clancy, before Adrian Phillips fired the loose ball to the net via the crossbar to leave Mayo 2-4 to 0-5 to the good after 13 minutes.

Eoin Delaney, who was on fire, landed back-to-back points, before Ryan Duffy also pointed to leave Mayo ahead by eight after 19 minutes.

Louth keeper Conor Clancy deserves credit for producing several impressive saves to keep Louth competitive here, and after he kept out a Fionn Delaney low drive, after the Mayo man had snuck in behind the Louth defence, he later denied Adrian Philips from close range in the second-half.

Despite the greasy conditions underfoot and shooting into the breeze, Darren Geoghan’s free taking was a joy to watch at times. He accounted for Louth’s next two scores, which were cancelled out by Cormac Phillip, a free, and Shane Boland.

Having won his side’s puckout, Sean Flynn raised a white flag from play for Louth, trading with Shane Boland after another decisive Mayo move that involved Shane O’Brien and Oisin Greally, who began the move with a turnover in his own defence. The visitors were 2-10 to 0-9 clear after 29 minutes and along with Greally, Oisin Ivers cut out several Louth attacks with some excellent defensive turnovers.

Mayo extended this lead to ten points by half-time thanks to two points by Adrian Philips and a free by Bobby Douglas (f), leaving them firmly in the driving seat at the break at 2-13 to 0-9.

Eight minutes into the second-half Mayo had increased that lead to fourteen points thanks to singles by Shane O’Brien, Daniel Huane and Eoin Delaney, two.

Louth continued to battle through the rain, and they grabbed five out of the next seven points to chip the deficit back to eleven, thanks again to the shooting of Darren Geoghan, three frees, while Armagh native Ciaran McKelvey found the range, as did sub Ricky McKeown, who had a positive impact after his introduction. However, heading into the final ten minutes, Mayo put more gloss on the scoreboard, when Eoin Delaney fired home his second goal to leave his side 3-19 to 0-13 ahead.

Louth continued to carry the fight to Mayo, and did amass six points in that final 10 minutes through Mark Gahan, John Casey, Peter Fortune, Sean Flynn, a free, and former Limerick panel member Andrew Le Touche Cosgrave to give some respectability to the scoreboard. But the day belonged to Mayo, who now have a Nicky Rackard Cup semi-final against New York to look forward to, with David Delaney, Eoin Delaney and Cormac Philips concluding the scoring for them, as they seek to go one better in the competition this time around.

Scorers – Mayo: Eoin Delaney 2-6, Cormac Phillips 0-5f, Adrian Philips 1-2, Shane Boland and Daniel Huane 0-2 apiece, Shane O’Brien, Corey Scahill, Ryan Duffy, Bobby Douglas (f) and David Delaney 0-1 each.

Louth: Darren Geoghan 0-9 (6f), Sean Flynn 0-3 (1f), Mark Gahan 0-2, Ciaran McKelvey , Ricky McKeown, John Casey, Peter Fortune and Andrew Le Touche Cosgrave 0-1 each.

Louth: Conor Clancy; Sean Hodgins, Aaron McGuinness, John Casey; Peter Fortune, Andrew Le Touche Cosgrave, Jake McNamara; Stephen Kettle, Michael O’Shea, Darren Geoghan, James Costello, Sean Flynn; Mark Gahan, Seaghan Connelly, Ciaran McKelvey. Subs: James Murphy (for O’Shea ht), Sean Magill and Fionn Cumiskey (for Hodgins and 44), Ricky McKeown (for Costello 50).

Mayo: Bobby Douglas; Oisin Ivers, Oisin Greally, Conor Murray; Conal Hession, David Kenny, Shane O’Brien; Daniel Huane, Corey Scahill; Shane Boland, Ryan Duffy, Eoin Delaney; Adrian Phillips, Cormac Phillips, Fionn Delaney. Subs: David Delaney (for F Delaney 40), Oisin Duffy (for O’Brien 52), John Heraty (for Scahill 59), Kevin Duffy (for Douglas 62).

REF: Adrian McAleer (Donegal)